Method of printing.



L E. woonsunv.

METHOD OF PRINTING.

APPLICATON FILED JULY 12. I9l5.

Patenged Dec. 19, 1916 zsnsers-snin I.

J. E. WOODBURY.

' METHOD OF PRINTING. APPLICATION men JULY 12. 1915.-

Patented Dec. 19,1916.

2 SHEETSSHEET 2- JOHN E. WOODBURY, 0F WORCESTER, MASSACHUSETTS.

7 METHOD OF mama I Specification of Letters I Patent.

Patented Dec; 19, 1916.

Original application filed June 4, 1913, Serial No. 771,668. Divided and this application filed July 12, 1915.

Serial No. 39,274. v.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that'I, JOHN E. WOODBURY, a citizen of the United States, residing at Worcester, in thecounty of Worcester and State of Massachusetts have invented a new and useful Method of Printing, of which the following is a specification.

This is a division of my application for a patent on an apparatus for printing, filed June 4, 1913, Serial No. 771,668.

This invention relates to a method of printing designs and illustrations from intaglio plates. Considerable difliculty has been encountered in doing commercial printing from intaglio plates involvlng illustrations, because the tinted or half tone parts of the design will not print clearly under ordinary conditions. This is of par- ;ticular importance in cases involving both illustrations and reading matter which is the USHEllCOHClltlOIl presented in this class of printing, Although the inventionrelates broadly to this art as specified above, re-

gardless of the particular applications thereof, it is especially applicable to the printing of highclass letter-heads and advertisements of various kinds in which it is desired to securethehighest degree of perfection in the printing 0 illustrative designs of more or less COlIlPllCfLlJGd nature.

of printing such designs, the paper should be moistened, but this has always presented difiiculties for the reason that it is difficult to handle moistened sheets at a high enough rate of speed and with sufiicientaccuracy to do this class of printing within a reasonable cost and yet keep the quality of the highest degree. I have discovered that :it is possible to secure the highest class of results by the local moistening of the sheet within the space occupied by the illustration. 1

This invention, therefore, relates to this method of printing and to the additional steps which I have used for the purposeof carrying out this method in a practicable manner. f

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, in which a Figure l is a side view of a well known kind of plate press showing the application of this invention thereto; Fig. 2 is a front elevation of the same; Fig. 3 isa transverse sectional view on the line 33 of 2 on enlarged scale, and Fig. 4 is a plan of a letter-head invention. i

The invention 1s shown as carried out printed in accordance with this in a printing press of well known type hav- 0 ing aframe 10. This frame is provided with the usual power shaft 12 and rotary members 13, the connections between which will not be described herein or shown in full as they are well understood in this art. 5

Connected with these rotary members is an armor lever 14 connected with a link 15 and operating a slide 16 in a well known wayto move it forward and back in guides on the frame. The intaglio plate 17 is held 7c in POSltiOIibGlOW anopening in the feed table 18 which has a slight vertical motion. The paper to be printed upon is registered by the; registering devices 19 on the feed table in the usual 'way. Then a plunger 20gascends, moving-the plate up through i the feed table against the counter 21. These parts also are well understood, and any desired mechanism. ,canbe employed for this purpose, this invention being independent; 30

of any particular style ofpress.

Mounted-rover an outwardly extending portion 24 of, the base of the frame is a platform 25 preferably on about the same level as the feed table when moved up. On this. 35 platform are registering devices 26 corresponding with the registering devices '19 for receiving the sheets before they are put into the press proper. The; side registers on the platform are shown on the left and those 99 connection 32 with the end of the belt 33.

This belt ismade ofa strip of textile material which is capable of taking up moisture andhaving that moisture spread throughout a given portion'thereof so as to be uniformly dampened. At the other end this-.100 flexible belt is connected by a clamp 34 or the like through another connection 32 with aflexiblemember 35- which passes over pulleys 36 and is connected with an arm 37 secured on the same shaft as the arm 14 and 1 05 oscillatable therewith. A slide 38 is connectedwith thebelt and slides along a stationary frame 39 toguide-the belt and, keep it. from'fiapping, In this way the movement of the arm '14 in one direction is'accomters with the projection 45.

I ,j'usted to any desired flow of Water. 50

panied by the movement of the arm 37, and the two together Work the tWo ends of the combined flexible member, so that the oscillation of these arms causes this belt 33 to move back and forth.

The pathof the belt is shown more fully in Fig. 3. It passes under a roller 4L0 and over a roller 41 which is adjustable by "a screw 42. These rollers are mounted (man extension of the platform 25. It then passes adjacent to the 're'gist'ers 2 6 and under the position which the sheet occupies 'When'registered therein. It then passes over "a Teller 43 doivn to the lower clamp 34. On the platform is a block 44 WhlCh'lS provided with a projection 45. This projection extends up 'into contact With thisfiexibleibelt and is of thesamesize'and shape as the'illustrative portion of the design of the intaglio plate used onthe'p're'ss'and" of thecounter.

It is also located inthe'same'position with respect to the registers 2 6that this design on'the plate is to the'registers 1'9.

Anarm't'? is'eccentrically connected with one of the rotarym'embers 13 andpivoted to ip'l'ate'n 49'directlyov'er the block ft. This also isshown asprovided with'a projection 50 and as'bjeing covered vvithatezitil'e Water absorbing sheet 51. This projection regis- These parts obviously WorkfWith the press and for each revolution of the press the platen moves down once substantially "in contact 'With the block 44:.

Oyer the belt 38 'on the platform 25 is loca'teda 's'tationary'sheet 52 which is made of textile material capable of absorbing and holding moisture. This is stretched out'between aplate 53 anda clamping member'e't and'is shown as of'two thicknesses. "It'jis dir'eotlyupon this that 'the papersheet A is located.

In "aflconvenierlt position is arranged "a 'vvat'er pipe 56 having 'a nozzle 57 With an adjustable valve 58 arranged over the path of the movable belt 33 and not far from th'e'rolls 40 and 4.1. v This valve can be ad- The belt shifter -i30 Which controls the starting and stopping ofthe press'in the usual Way is provided with an extending end 61Which engages and'operates the stem 62 of a controlling valve'63 Which permits the operator 'vvhen' shifting the belt to't'urn'on or oif the Water-in'the pipe. v

When the'v'vater is turned on it Will drip geo'nstantly "on the "belt in accordance With the adjustment of the valve 58. The Water 1 dropping on'the' belt obviouslyfivould spread to some extent by itself but would not spread f uniformly under all conditions, and Would -'leavjethe beltvvit'hthe most moisture at the "center. spreading the'moisture,the"belt is passed For the purpose of thoroughly the application of a spot of moisture to the double sheet 52 and the application of that moisture with pressure to'the "sheet of paper. Then as the platen ascends the removal of the pressure permits the absorbent material of the sheet 52 anabeneem take up any excess of moisture from the paper, thus preventing the paper being made too Wet. Thus the spot'rsmoistened uniformly, and all the sheets are m'o'ls'tened the same degree.

wetting of a small spot on'asheet-ofipaper would tend --to swell the paper 'very badly at theIn-oistened spot, andthus make it diiiicult to handle and difficu'lt to impressit Withthe design properly Without wrinkling or smutting. The-primary object Ofth'e sheet 52 is to i provide a etationar'ysupport for the paper.

"The pap er having been inoi'stened and the finoisture having been absorbed, to leave the moisture in aproperconditionthereon, the sheet is transferred from the registers 26 I to the registers 19. Thiseanbe done-"obviously automatically or 'byh'and, but-in= the present caseth'e inventionis shown as appliedto a "lrandp'ress, 'andrit "is intended that the oper- "atol" shall tal'ie tlre'she'ets one at a ti'lne from the moisture registers and apply them to the printing registers. This is done at the time "when theplaten 49-is inov-ing'up and vvhen the pressure members of the press are separated. At the same time the printedksheet is being removed. The motion or both hands of 5 the operator -'in taking the sheet from -the moisture "applying mechanism a'nd putting it into the press and taking the-other sheet fromthepress and piling-it'up at the Sl'ClG isinthe'same direction and at the same time. Consequently it does not materially add to tlre skill or 'rapidi-tyrequiredbf the operator.

In Fig. *4 the" sheet A is shown "with an illustrative design 13 and the dotted line C indicates the "extent of the application of moisture. It Will be seen-that the'printed 'matteris'not included inth'e part' Which is "moistened unless it is necessary to provide the printing in the design itself.

In-this itWvi'll be seen-that-a uniform,

immediately after the "moisture is applied andtheexcess removed. The perfectly black 7 parts of the design, if they can-be separated from the remainder, and the-reading matter,

do not needth'is treatment.

It "Will beunderstoodreadilythat the excessive Although I have illustrated and described 1 3 0 only one Way of carrying out the invention I am aware of the fact that many modifications can be made therein Without departing from the scope of the invention as expressed in the claims. Therefore I do not Wish to be limited in these respects but What I do claim is 1. A method of printing from intaglio plates Which consists in moistening a portion of a sheet, keeping the remainder of the sheet dry, making the impression from the illustrated portion of the intaglio plate on the moistened portion of the sheet and printing on the unmoistened portionof the sheet.

2. A method of printing from intaglio plates Which consists in locally moistening a portion of a sheet, preventing the spreading of the moisture beyond the moistened spot, removing any excess of moisture therefrom, and immediately thereafter printing the illustrative portions of a design from an intaglio plate on the moistened portion of the sheet and the reading matter on the dry portion.

Which are to receive the imprint of the illustrative portions of the plate, keeping the rest of the sheet dry including the part to receive the imprint of the reading matter, taking up the excess moisture from the moistened portion, and applying the sheet to the plate from Which the imprint is to be made.

4. The method of printing from intaglio plates, Which consists in locally moistening a sheet on Which the imprint is to be made, then taking up the excessmoisture from the moistened portion of the sheet, and printing thereon While the sheet is in that condition.

5. The method of printing from intaglio plates Which consists in moistening a sheet on certain portions onlv and printing illustrative matter only on the moistened portions from the intaglio plates...

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand.

-- JOHN E. WOODBURY.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. 6. 

